South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Flipping The Pattern

Matthew O’Brien points out that “older workers are about to surpass younger workers for the first time.”

For the first time ever, workers over-55 are set to make up a bigger share of the workforce than workers between 25 and 34 years old….It might not be long until over-55s outnumber the 25 to 34 crowd.
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With the Great Recession forcing so many Boomers to postpone retirement, their numbers probably won’t plateau anytime soon. In other words, more Boomers will hit their 55th birthdays, but fewer Boomers will trade in for a gold watch when they hit their 65th birthdays. This could go on until 2020 or so — when the youngest Boomers will start approaching their golden years.
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Here’s a depressing thought. It might take that long for a self-sustaining recovery to take hold. Eventually Millennials will have to start buying houses and cars — right? By then they should have the jobs to do so. But for now, the younger generation is mostly unemployed, underemployed, or back in school. That’s why their share of the workforce actually slipped when the Great Recession hit.

Around The Dial – July 10, 2012

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• TaxVox explains why the Affordable Care Act is good for states.
• Ezra Klein sketches the politics of Medicaid expansion.
• The New York Times reports on the use of private probation companies.
• Robert Skidelsky proposes abolishing retirement.
• Dean Baker explains “why Americans should work less.”

Boosting College Attainment in Greensboro, NC

Don Patterson of The Greensboro News & Record reports on efforts to boost the college attainment rates in the Greensboro metro area.

Research shows that for every 1  percent a region improves its attainment rate, its per capita income jumps $763.
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“It’s all about skills — who has them and who doesn’t,” said Dewayne Matthews , a vice president at the Lumina Foundation for Education  in Indianapolis. “A lot of people knew that skills mattered, but it was not something that people focused on.”
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Since the onset of the recession, that has changed.
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And now that focus has come to Guilford County.
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A group of UNCG  officials want to significantly boost the county’s college attainment level in the coming years, a move they believe will significantly help the area’s struggling economy.
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On Sept. 11 , they will call together 40 to 50  government, education and foundation leaders to look for ways to encourage people like Germino to go back to school and get their degrees.

Straight To The Point

Calculated Risk cuts right to the point and in the process points out the most important failure in public policy over the last four or five years.

With an 8%+ unemployment rate, every day should be about jobs …

Around The Dial – July 9, 2012

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• Jonathan Cohn mulls the future of the Medicaid expansion.
• Jared Bernstein considers how to explain complex policy issues.
• Joe Nocera discusses the importance of community colleges.
• Laura Tyson looks at the politics of jobs.
• Economix estimates how much Medicaid expansion would cost.